There are few live poker venues in Europe that are as busy as Banco Casino Bratislava. Offering only poker, it’s the main card room in the Slovakian capital, and it feels like there’s always some big event going on in the Beauty of the Danube. A few days ago, the 2026 Winter Polish Winter Cup wrapped up, featuring a Main Event that actually set the record for the biggest-ever Mystery Bounty tournament in Europe. There would be no rest for the Banco Casino crew, as the 2026 Festival Bratislava took over the tables right after the Polish players bid farewell.
Shcherba’s Road to Victory
Banco Casino is no stranger when it comes to Polish live poker events. The stunning card room hosted the Polish Poker Championship for the first time back in 2015, and this year, they will roll out the red carpet for three editions of the Polish Poker Cup, as well as the 2026 Polish Poker Championship (November 4-11).
To be fair, the first of the three cup events is already done and dusted. While the 2026 Spring Polish Poker Cup (May 18-25) and the 2026 Summer Polish Poker Cup (August 17-24) are both on the horizon, the 2026 Winter Polish Cup wrapped up on Monday, February 23. It was an eight-day festival featuring 11 unique events, with one tournament in particular in the spotlight. For the first time ever, the €150 Main Event was played in the form of a mystery bounty tournament. It’s the format that offers unparalleled thrills and excitement, and with a €25,000 top mystery prize waiting in one of the sealed envelopes, the turnout was predicted to be humongous.
The predictions were right, to say the least. The €250,000 guarantee was shattered by some margin, as the final prize pool read €489,472. The bounties also increased, increasing the biggest head hunter prize from €25,000 to €41,000. All of this was a result of the 3,839 entries that the tournament scored. As if these numbers weren’t already impressive themselves, the event also set a record for the biggest-ever live poker mystery bounty tournament.
Before the final table kicked off on Monday, Piotr Kolenda had already claimed the aforementioned €41,000 top bounty during Day 2. That being said, there was still a lot to play for; alongside the remaining bounties, the final nine players were all competing for the €42,796 first-place payout. It was Jacek Wieczorek who’d earned himself the greatest presumptions, seeing as he began the final table with a solid chip lead, almost twice as much as Igor Zaric, who was in second place on the rankings.
At the first break, Piotr Wierzbowski, John Kelly, and Zaric had all been eliminated. The next one to go was Wieczorek; at the early stages of the final table, he lost a big chunk of his stack when he didn’t hit his flush, and despite commencing the final stage of the tournament as the chip leader, Wieczorek had to settle for a sixth-place finish. He was soon joined on the rail by Jaroslaw Falkowski, who bid farewell in fifth place, and Tomáš Matúš followed shortly thereafter in fourth. Eventually, Jaroslaw Chmiel was eliminated in third place, and the stage was set for a heads-up showdown between Vitalii Shcherba and Patrik Demjancik.
Starting the tango, Demjancik was the chip leader, but it wasn’t by much more than seven Big Blinds. Shcherba, who is a very prominent Ukrainian player with $760,116 in total live earnings on The Hendon Mob, soon enough picked off a bluff by Demjancik and secured a two-to-one chip lead. Demjancik was now crippled, and after roughly half an hour, Shcherba made it 8,000,000 on the Button on Blinds 3,000,000/6,000,000. Demjancik made the call, and the check-called a 6,000,000 bet from Shcherba on the 9♣Q♦6♥ flop. Both players checked the 2♥ turn, and the dealer revealed the K♥ on the river. After another check from Demjancik, Shcherba made it 13,000,000, and Demjancik made the call. Shcherba turned over Q♥4♠; Demjancik’s 6♣4♦ couldn’t beat top pair, and as the Blinds increased, Demjancik was now down to 10 Big Blinds, compared to Shcherba’s 28.
Both players took turns stealing the Big Blind by going all in, successfully getting a fold out of the opponent. Soon enough, Demjancik pushed his 24,000,000 in the middle with 5♠3♠, and Shcherba made the call with J♣7♣. It wouldn’t be an exciting runout as Shcherba immediately improved to a flush on the 8♣6♣9♣ flop. For good measure, he improved to a seven-card club bonanza as the board completed with Q♣3♣. As Demjancik was eliminated in second place, Shcherba became the winner of the biggest-ever mystery bounty live poker tournament, taking home the prestigious title and a first-place payout of €46,251, including his bounties won.
2026 Winter Polish Cup – €150 Mystery Bounty Main Event Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Country | Prize | Bounty | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Vitali Shcherba | Ukraine | €42,796 | €3,455 | €46,251 |
| 2 |  Patrik Demjancik | Slovakia | €28,725 | €4,360 | €33,085 |
| 3 |  Jaroslaw Chmiel | Poland | €19,140 | €1,485 | €20,625 |
| 4 | Tomáš Matúš | Slovakia | €12,835 | €1,060 | €13,895 |
| 5 | Kamil Falkowski | Poland | €9,905 | €7,514 | €17,419 |
| 6 | Jan Wieczorek | Poland | €7,490 | €950 | €8,440 |
| 7 |  Igor Zaric | Serbia | €5,090 | €2,290 | €7,380 |
| 8 |  John Kelly | England | €3,320 | €7,939 | €11,259 |
| 9 | Jan Wierzbowski | Poland | €2,580 | €1,275 | €3,855 |
Next at Banco: The 2026 Festival Bratislava
Even though not being on-site to witness the 2026 Winter Polish Cup unfold, this poker.pro journalist dares to claim that the Banco Casino staff quickly rearranged the room to fit the next event on their busy schedule. The same day as the event finished, the 2026 Festival Bratislava kicked off with its first of seven busy days. Bratislava is a destination close to Martin “Franke” von Zweigbergk’s (founder of The Festival) and his crew’s hearts; the first-ever The Festival event was held at Banco Casino back in 2021, and the event has returned to home soil every year since then.
As is always the case with The Festival, this event offers a packed tournament schedule. One event that may stand out a little extra is the brand-new €1,100 10-Game Mix. Claiming the title in this Mixed Games high roller tournament would surely grant the winner eternal Mixed Games virtuoso status. It’s not your regular 10-game; there are zero Hold ‘Em variants in the mix, and if one wants to contend for the title, one must possess a very diversified set of skills.
The 10-Game Mix aside, there’s a swarm of more Mixed Games, such as the recurring €550 T.O.R.S.E.S. Mixed Games Main Event and the €250 Open-Face Chinese Pineapple. In terms of “regular poker tournaments”, the prestigious €250 THMC (The Hendon Mob Championship) is one of the events that always attracts a big crowd. The partnership between The Festival and The Hendon Mob goes way back, and they’ll just keep on creating poker history together.
Then, there is, of course, the €550 Main Event. Something that’s worth mentioning is that Poland’s Sebastian Kotowicz has managed to win the flagship tournament back-to-back during the two most recent The Festival events in Bratislava. He’ll do his best to make an already astonishing feat even more impressive by going for the three-peat; only time will tell if he’ll manage to overcome the odds. One thing’s for sure: he’s got the skill for it.
The poker.pro editorial office is always excited over the continuous action going on at Banco Casino Bratislava, and once the 2026 Festival Bratislava is done and dusted, poker.pro will do their best recapping all the action. In a world of uncertainties, one thing that’s given is that Bratislava is the place to be this week.
